The invention relates to marine stern drives, and more particularly to a tool and method for installing the engine.
A marine stern drive has an inboard engine, an outdrive with a gimbal bearing at the transom of the boat, and a drive coupler shaft extending through the gimbal bearing and between the outdrive and the engine. The drive coupler shaft extends from a universal joint in the outdrive forwardly through the gimbal bearing and into the flywheel output coupler of the engine. The outdrive is secured to the transom by an inner transom plate having a pair of engine supports thereon for supporting the rear of the engine. The boat has a pair of longitudinal stringers with a pair of engine mounts thereon for supporting the front of the engine. The engine has a pair of rear mounts mounted on the rear engine supports on the inner transom plate. The engine has a pair of front supports mounted on the front engine mounts on the stringers. The front engine mounts are vertically adjustable to vary the height of the front of the engine to align the engine with the gimbal bearing, including proper alignment of the drive coupler shaft.
It is desirable for boat manufacturers to be able to pre-drill the front engine mount bolt or lag screw holes in the stringers prior to installing the engine. This is because in many engines the front engine mounts are located directly below the exhaust manifolds or other engine components, making it very difficult to drill the holes after the engine is installed, i.e. there is insufficient clearance between the front engine mounts and various engine components, such as the noted exhaust manifolds, to accommodate a drill. The boat manufacturer must remove the engine after marking the mounting hole locations on the stringers, to allow access for drilling the holes. The need to remove the engine adds significant extra time to the average installation, increasing the boat manufacturer's labor costs.
Installation tools are known in the prior art for locating the front engine mounts horizontally on the stringers prior to installation of the engine, to horizontally pre-align the front engine mounts with the supports on the engine. However, none of the tools provide vertical alignment locating the proper height of the front engine mounts prior to installation of the engine, to pre-set the height adjustment of the front of the engine to assure proper alignment of the engine with the gimbal bearing after installation of the engine. Sizeable vertical adjustments to the front engine mounts are difficult after the engine is installed.
The present invention addresses and solves the latter need, and provides a tool and method for locating the front engine mounts both vertically and horizontally. With the present invention, the vertical height adjustment of the front engine mounts is pre-set before installation of the engine, such that after the engine is installed, such vertical height adjustment need only be fine tuned, if necessary at all.